Press with retractable platen



Sept. 23, 1969 E. HAAS ET AL 3,468,204

PRESS WITH RETRACTABLE PLATEN Filed April 6, 1967 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 EDGAEDWARD KOTTSIEPER ATTORNEYS Sept. 23, 1969 E. HAAS ETAL PRESS WITHRETRACTABLE PLATEN 3 Sheets-Sheet 2':

Filed April 6. 1967 will tiara! Sept. 23, 1969 E, HAAS ET AL PRESS WITHRETRACTABLE PLATEN 3 Sheets-Sheet Filed ADril 6, 1967 l l i i I EDWARDKOTTSIEPER ATTORNEYS FIG.8

United States Patent 3,468,204 PRESS WITH RETRACTABLE PLATEN Edgar Haas,New York, N.Y., and Edward Kottsieper,

Dresden Mills, Maine, assignors to Herman Schwabe,

Inc., Brooklyn, N.Y., a corporation of New York Filed Apr. 6, 1967, Ser.No. 628,933 Int. Cl. B26d /06 US. Cl. 83-533 19 Claims ABSTRACT OF THEDISCLOSURE This press, typically a die cutting press of the four postertype, has a long bed to support Wide continuous material, and a longhead thereover. Dies are moved manually over the material. For handsafety and for better visibility, the platen is carried beneath the headby front and back upright hinge plates which are so hinged at their topand bottom that they can fold rearward and upward to retract the platenout of the way. An auxiliary motor means and linkage are connected tothe hinged assembly to pull the platen to its retracted position whenthe head is raised.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Material is frequently cut by loose dieswhich are manually placed on the material. The press platen may be aswinging arm, but when using wide material coming from rolls or a longlayup, it is preferred to use a four poster press having a relativelylong bed for material which is say sixty inches wide. If the dies aresmall, as for shoes, the press may be a travel head press, in which theplaten travels sideward beneath a top beam between cuts. However, if thedies are of large area, as when cutting patterned pieces for clothing orluggage, it is preferred to have the entire width of the pressavailable, and in a typical case the bed and the platen both may be saysixty inches by thirty inches. For improved visibility and to safeguardthe hands of the operator, it has been proposed to slide the entire headrearward out of the way between cutting strokes, but this has createdstructural and inertia problems. Somewhat similar difficulty arises ifone attempts to provide a very long stroke upward.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present improved press comprises a fourposter frame carrying a bed and a head with a main drive means to movethe bed and the head vertically toward and away from one another, with ashort stroke, all in accordance with known practice. However, the platenis carried beneath the head by front and back hinge plates which areupright during the cutting stroke, and which are so hinged at their topand bottom that they can fold rearward and upward to retract the platenout of the way. Appropriate linkage is connected to the hinged assemblyto pull the platen to its retracted position, and auxiliary motor meansis provided for this purpose.

The hinges at the top and bottom edges of the hinge plates are sopositioned and arranged that the plates come to a stop in verticalposition with their top edges bearing against the bottom of the head,and with their bottom edges bearing against the top of the platen, sothat the full force of the head is transmitted directly to the platenwithout reliance or stress on the hinges. The hinge plates are nearly aslong as the head and platen so that the cutting force is distributedalong the length of the platen.

The auxiliary motor means preferably is mounted on and moves up and downwith the head. It may be an electric motor of the gear motor type, inwhich the slow "ice speed shaft carries cranks at both ends, whichoperate rods connected to toggles. The toggle at one end are connectedto the rear hinge plates, and at the other end are connected to themotor bracket projecting rearward from the head. This linkage is soarranged that the cranks and rods come into dead center alignment, andthe toggles also come into dead center alignment, when the hinge platesare in vertical working position, thereby locking them in that position.

The foregoing and additional features are described in the followingdetailed specification, which is accompanied by.drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a front elevation of a die cutting press embodying theinvention, the dies being omitted;

FIG. 2 is an end view looking toward the left end of FIG. 1, with acover plate removed;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary simplified view, to larger scale, looking towadthe left of FIG. 1, but with the end plate of the head omitted, andshowing the platen partially retracted;

FIG. 4 is a similar view showing the platen fully retracted;

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary view explanatory of a modification;

FIG. 6 is an electrical diagram;

FIG. 7 is a rear view drawn to larger scale, and showing the linkage ofFIGS. 3 and 4; and

FIG. 8 is a section the right hand portion of which is takenapproximately on the line 88 of FIG. 7.

Referring to the drawing, and more particularly to FIGS. 1 and 2, thepress shown is a four poster press, the posts in this case being Uchannels 12 which carry bed beams 14 supporting a table with a cuttingblock 16. The posts are supported by base channels 18. The head 20 isvertically movable, and is guided by appropriate ways described later.The frame is completed by cross rails 22 at the top of the posts 12.

The particular press here shown, without the new retractable platen, isan electromechanical press substantially the same as the Hercules pressmade by Herman Schwabe, Inc. of Brooklyn, NY. There is a main drivemotor 24, which drives a gear reducer 26, through multiple V belts 28.The output is applied to a main shaft 30 extending beneath the bed 14.This shaft carries eccentrics 32 (FIG. 2) near each end, drivinggenerally upright connecting rods 34, which are connected at their upperends to the head 20. A hand wheel 36 (FIG. 1) may be used to adjust theheight of the head relative to the bed.

Referring to FIG. 8, for this purpose the main connecting rods 34 arethreaded at 36, and are received in threaded sleeves which may berotated by worm gears 38, driven by worms 40, on a shaft 42 whichextends from one end of the head 20 to the other, and which is turned bythe hand wheel 36 (FIG. 1). The threaded sleeves are rotatable in blocks44 having trunnions 46 received in plates forming a part of the head 20.Thus the swing of the connecting rods 34 as they follow the motion ofthe eccentrics 32 is accommodated by oscillation of the blocks 44.

FIG. 8 also shows how the end plate 48 at each end of the head carriesfour rollers 50 which ride on ways 52 secured to the frame posts 12.There are also front and back rollers shown at 51 in FIGS. 1 and 8.

As so far described the press is conventional, but referring now toFIGS. 1 through 4, the platen 54, instead of being secured directly tothe bottom of the head 20, is carried by front and back plates 56, 58.These are hinged at their top and bottom so that they can fold rearwardand upward, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, to retract the platen 54 out ofthe way. The press has appropriate linkage for this purpose, and in thepresent case the linkage is operated by an auxiliary motor 60 which ispreferably mounted on and moves up and down with the head 20'. A bracket62 is fixedly mounted on the rear of the head, and motor 60 is of thespeed reducing or gear motor type, the base of gear housing 64 beingmounted on bracket 62.

The slow speed shaft 66 of the gear motor turns a crank 68 carrying aconnecting rod 70 the lower end of which is connected to the common pinof toggle levers 72 and 74. The lower end of lever 74 is connected at 76to the hinged assembly, and more specifically to the hinge plate 58. Therear end of toggle lever 72 is connectedat 78 to the bracket 62previously referred to. The connecting rod 70 is adjustable in length,as by being threaded into a mating socket in its upper end connection 71(FIGS. 7 and 8).

The toggle linkage is spread along the length of the the press, as isbest shown in FIG. 7, referring to which, the slow speed shaft 66projects at both ends from the gear housing 64, the latter in this casehousing a worm and gear reduction. Shaft 66 carries two cranks 68, whichin turn are connected to two connecting rods 70. The rear hinge plate 58is shown in upright position between the head 20 and the platen 54.

The toggle levers 74 have a broad A shape, the wide lower ends beingpivotally connected to the hinge plate 58 with the aid of bearing blocks80. The toggle levers 72 are connected to the bracket 62 by means of ashaft 82. The other ends of toggle levers 72 are offset outwardly, andare bifurcated to receive the lower ends 84 of rods 70. The upper endsof the lower toggle levers 74 are wide enough to receive the bifurcatedlower ends of levers 72. All three parts are pivotally connected byappropriate pins 86. On comparison it will be seen that this linkage isidentical with that described in FIGS. 3 and 4, but FIG. 7 shows that itis used in duplicate, and spreads outward from the auxiliary motor atthe center of the head.

FIGS. 3 and 4 respectively show the platen 54 partially and fullyretracted. The forward or working position of the platen is shown inFIG. 2 but is better shown in FIG. 8, referring to which it will be seenthat crank 68 and rod 70 are in alignment or dead center, and similarlythat toggle lever 72 and toggle lever 74 are in alignment or deadcenter, when the platen 54 is in working or cutting position. At thistime the front and back hinge plates 56 and 58 are in vertical position,and the linkage design helps lock them in that position. With hingeplates nine inches wide an extra lift of about eight inches is obtained,and there is also a rearward displacement.

FIG. 8 shows how the hinges 88 and 90 at the top edges of the hingeplates 56 and 58, and the hinges 92 and 94 at the bottom edges of thehinge plates, are so positioned and arranged that the plates have theirtop edges bearing against the bottom of the head 20, and they have theirbottom edges bearing against the top of the platen, so that the fullcutting force of the head 20 is press, as is best shown in FIG. 7,referring to which, transmitted directly to the platen 54 withoutreliance or stress on the hinges. For this purpose, as will be seen inFIGS. 3, 4, 7 and 8, the hinge axes at the top are coincident with thetop rear corners of the plates 56 and 58, and the hinge axes at thebottom are coincident with the bottom forward corners of plates 56 and58.

The top of platen 54 is recessed to receive the leaves of hinges 92 and94, and in FIG. 7 it will be seen that the upright hinge leaves aredisposed between the horizontal hinge leaves, so that the center leavescan nest between the spaced leaves when the platen is in the raisedposition shown in FIG. 4. The top edges of the hinge plates are notcheddownward (See FIG. 7) to clear the top hinges, and the bottom edges arenotched upward to clear the bottom hinges. When the platen is in itsworking position as shown in FIG. 8, the hinge plate 56 is verticallyaligned with and abuts in edge-to-edge relation with the main forwardbeam plate 96 of head 20, and the rear hinge plate 58 is verticallyaligned with and abuts in edge-toedge relation with the main rear beamplate 98 of the head 20.

Referring to FIG. 7, the bracket 62 has upright plates 61 welded to atop plate 63, and these are all welded to an upright mounting plate 65,to form a rigid box frame which is bolted to the rear beam plate 98 ofthe head 20.

The auxiliary motor i preferably provided with means to automaticallystop it when the platen is in its working position, and again when it isfully retracted. This may be done in several ways. Referring to FIG. 8there is a counter 100 which operates a switch after a predeterminedcount. Thus the gear reduction may be say to 1, in which case the motorswitch is opened at a count of 40, and again at a count of 80, and isappropriately synchronized with the up position of the crank 68 shown inFIG. 4, and the down position of the crank 68 shown in FIG. 8. Suchrevolution counters controlling switches are made, for example by theAllen Bradley Company at Milwaukee, Wis., or Eagle Signal Company ofMoline, Ill.

Alternatively the slow speed or output shaft 66 of the gear motor mayturn a unit with cam operated switches. Such switches are made by theaforesaid Allen Bradley Company and others. Still another arrangementmay employ limit switches appropriately positioned to respond to the upand down position of the platen, or of the hinge plates. All of thesedevices are here considered to be limit switches.

A simplified electrical diagram is shown in FIG. 6, and is preferably sodesigned that the operation of the press is controlled by a pair ofspaced push buttons PM and PB2 to ensure that the hands of the operatorhave been removed from the press. Moreover, the control circuitry of themain motor 24 and the auxiliary motor 60 is so interrelated that themain motor can be operated only after the auxiliary motor has moved theplaten to working position.

In FIG. 6 the limit switch LS1 responds to upward movement of the head;limit switch LS2 is for the retracted position of the platen; limitswitch LS3 is for the forward position of the platen; and limit switchLS4 is for the down position of the head.

To start the press the operator presses the spaced push buttons PB]. andPB2. Relay coil CR2 then is energized and closes contacts CR2-1 andCR2-2, thereby activating starter F1 for motor 60, which swings theplaten forward. On reaching the forward position limit switch LS3-1opens to halt the forward movement of the platen, and limit switch LS3-2closes to activate relay coil CR4 Which starts the cutting motion byactivating the starter F2 of main motor 24 through relay contacts CR42.Relay contacts CR4-1 activate relay coil CR3 which closes contacts CR3-1to act as a self contained hold, and also opens contacts CR3-2 so thatrelay coil CR4 is deenergized when limit switch LS4-1 opens at the endof the cutting stroke.

On its way up the head closes limit switch LS1-1 temporanly to energizestarter F1 of auxiliary motor 60, which folds the platen backward untilit opens limit switch LS2-1 thus deenergizing strater P1 of motor 60 andhalting the folding motion. The retraction need not be delayed until thehead has risen all the way. Relay coil CR1 which is energized throughrelay contacts CR2-1 will remain energized over relay contacts CRl-l ifthe operator holds push buttons PBI and PB2 closed. Relay contacts CR1-2(which are normally closed) will open so that relay coil CR2 will bedeenergized upon the opening of limit switch LS1-1 or LS3-1.

The motor means to retract the platen need not be an electric motor. Itis possible to use an actuator driven by compressed fluid, such as oilor air. Referring to FIG.

5, as before the head 140 carries a platen 152 on front and rear hingeplates, only the rear hinge plate 144 being shown. The head 140 carriesa bracket 146 supporting motor means in the form of a cylinder 148 andplunger or piston rod 150 connected to a piston inside the cylinder. Thecylinder 158 is pivotally mounted at 152 on the bracket 146, and pistonrod 150 is connected to the hinged assembly. It will be evident thatwhen the actuator is extended the platen 142 is moved downward andforward to working position, and when the actuator is shortened, theplaten is moved upward and rearward to its retracted position shown inbroken lines at 142'. The pipes for the fluid driving the actuator areindicated at 154 and 156.

It is believed that the construction and operation of our improved presswith retractable platen, as well as the advantages thereof, will beapparent from the foregoing detailed description. The advantages of avery long press stroke are obtained, while using a short press stroke.With a separate auxiliary motor the platen may be put safely intoworking position before the cutting stroke, yet may be retracted duringthe return stroke of the press.

It will be apparent that while we have shown and described the inventionin a preferred form, changes may be made without departing from thescope of the invention.

We claim:

1. A press comprising a frame, a bed, a head, a main drive means torelatively move the head and bed toward or away from one another, aplaten carried by the head beneath the head by front and back uprighthinge plates which are so hinged at their top edges to the head and attheir bottom edges to the platen that they can turn rearward and upwardto retract the platen out of the way, and auxiliary means connected tothe hinged assembly to pull the platen to its retracted position.

2. A press as defined in claim 1, in which the hinges at the top andbottom edges of the hinge plates are so positioned and arranged that theplates come to a stop in vertical position with their top edges bearingagainst the bottom of the head, and with their bottom edges bearingagainst the top of the platen, so that the force of the head istransmitted directly to the platen without reliance on the hinges.

3. A press as defined in claim 2 in which the auxiliary means comprisesan extra motor and linkage connected to the hinged assembly and operatedby the extra motor.

4. A press as defined in slaim 3, in which the frame and bed arestationary, and in which the head moves up and down over the bed, and inwhich the auxiliary motor means for retracting the platen is mounted onand moves up and down with the head, and in which the platen isretracted when the head is raised.

5. A press as defined in claim 4, designed for die cutting wide materialresting on the bed by means of dies moved manually over the materialwhile the platen is retracted, said press being a four poster presshaving a relatively long bed, a commensurately long head and platen, andhinge plates nearly as long as the head and platen in order to apply acutting force which is dis tributed along the length of the platen.

6. A press as defined in claim 5, in which the auxiliary motor means isan electric motor of the speed reducing or gear motor type, and in whichthe slow speed shaft is double-ended and carries cranks at both ends,connecting rods driven by said cranks, and toggles operated by saidrods, and in which the toggles at one end are connected to the rear ofthe hinged assembly, and at the other end are connected to a bracketprojecting rearward from the head.

7. A press as defined in claim 5, in which the auxiliary motor means isan electric motor of the speed reducing or gear motor type, and in whichthe slow speed shaft is double-ended and carries cranks at both ends,rods driven by said cranks, and toggles operated by said rods, and inwhich the toggles at one end are connected to the rear hinge plate, andat the other end are connected to a bracket projecting rearward from thehead, and in which the cranks and rods come into dead center alignmentand the toggles also come into dead center alignment when the hingeplates are in vertical working position, thereby locking the hingeplates in vertical position.

8. A press as defined in claim 7, in which the auxiliary motor means isprovided with limit switches to stop the operation of the motor when thehinge plates are vertical, and again when the platen is fully retracted.

9. A press as defined in claim 8, in which the main drive means iselectromechanical and is driven by an electric motor, and in which theoperation of the press is controlled by a pair of spaced push buttons toensure that the hands of the operator have been removed from the press,and in which the control circuitry of the main motor and the auxiliarymotor are so interrelated that the main motor can be operated only afterthe auxiliary motor has moved the platen to working position.

10. A press as defined in claim 5, in which the auxiliary motor meanscomprises a cylinder and plunger, one of which is connected to the rearhinge plate, and the other of which is connected to a bracket projectingrearward from the head.

11. A press as defined in claim 3, in which the frame and bed arestationary, and in which the head moves up and down over the bed, and inwhich the auxiliary motor means for retracting the platen is mounted onand moves up and down with the head, and in which the platen isretracted when the head is raised.

12. A press as defined in claim 1, designed for die cutting widematerial resting on the bed by means of dies moved manually over thematerial while the platen is retracted, said press being a four posterpress having a relatively long bed, a commensurately long head andplaten, and hinge plates nearly as long as the head and platen in orderto apply a cutting force which is distributed along the length of theplaten.

13. A press as defined in claim 3, in which the auxiliary motor means isan electric motor of the speed reducing or gear motor type, and in whichthe slow speed shaft is double-ended and carries cranks at both ends,connecting rods driven by said cranks, and toggles operated by said rodsand in which the toggles at one end are connected to the rear of thehinge assembly, and at the other end are connected to a bracketprojecting rearward from the head.

14. A press as defined in claim 3, in which the auxiliary motor means isan electric motor of the speed reducing or gear motor type, and in whichthe slow speed shaft is double-ended and carries cranks at both ends,rods driven by said cranks, and toggles operated by said rods, and inwhich the toggles at one end are connected to the rear hinge plate, andat the other end are connected to a bracket projecting rearward from thehead, and in which the cranks and rods come into dead center alignmentand the toggles also come into dead center alignment when the hingeplates are in vertical working position, thereby locking the hingeplates in vertical position.

15. A press as defined in claim 3, in which the auxiliary motor means isprovided with limit switches to stop the operation of the motor when thehinge plates are vertical, and again when the platen is fully retracted,and in which the main driven means is electromechanical and is driven byan electric motor, and in which the operation of the press is controlledby a pair of spaced push buttons to ensure that the hands of theoperator have been removed from the press, and in which the controlcircuitry of the main motor and the auxiliary motor are so interrelatedthat the main motor can be operated only after the auxiliary motor hasmoved the platen to working position.

16. A press as defined in claim 3, in which the auxiliary motor meanscomprises a cylinder and plunger, one of which is connected to the rearof the hinged assembly, and the other of which is connected to a bracketprojecting rearward from the head.

17. A press as defined in claim 1, in which the auxiliary meanscomprises an extra motor, and linkage connected to the hinged assemblyand operated by the extra motor, and in which the said extra motor is anelectric motor of the speed reducing or gear motor type, and in whichthe slow speed shaft is double-ended and carries cranks at both ends,connecting rods driven by said cranks, and toggles operated by saidrods, and in which the toggles at one end are connected to the rear ofthe hinge assembly, and at the other end are connected to a bracketprojecting rearward from the head.

18. A press as defined in claim 1, in which the auxiliary meanscomprises an extra motor, and linkage connected to the hinged assemblyand operated by the extra motor, and in which the said extra motor is anelectric motor of the speed reducing or gear motor type, and in whichthe slow speed shaft is double-ended and carries cranks at both ends,rods driven by said cranks, and toggles operated by said rods, and inwhich the toggles at one end are connected to the rear hinge plate, andat the other end are connected to a bracket projecting rearward from thehead, and in which the cranks and rods come into dead center alignmentand the toggles also come into dead center alignment when the hingeplates are in vertical working position, thereby locking the hingeplates in vertical positron.

19. A press as defined in claim 1, in which the auxiliary meanscomprises an extra motor, and linkage connected to the hinged assemblyand operated by the extra motor, and in which the said extra motor isprovided with limit switches to stop the operation of the motor when thehinged plates are vertical, and again when the platen is fullyretracted, and in which the main driven means is electromechancial andis driven by an electric motor, and in which the operation of the pressis controlled by a pair of spaced push buttons to ensure that the handsof the operator have been removed from the press, and in which thecontrol circuitry of the main motor and the auxiliary motor are sointerrelated that the main motor can be operated only after theauxiliary motor has moved the 15 platen to working position.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 25 FRANK T. YOST, PrimaryExaminer US. Cl. X.R.

